LE BARON
Power User
Thye knew how to make them back then. You could do burn outs *wheel spin) with very little wheel degradationWhite wall tires no less....
Anyone Else Fascinated By Old Locomotives?
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LE BARON
Power User
Western Maryland #734
LE BARON
Power User
LE BARON
Power User
LE BARON
Power User
LE BARON
Power User
WMSR’s #734
LE BARON
Power User
The Marent Gulch Trestle
This photograph captures a massive wooden railway trestle spanning Marent Gulch, a deep ravine in Montana, United States, built in 1883—during a time when America was driven by expansion, industry, and the relentless push westward.
Location
Marent Gulch lay in a rugged, mountainous region of Montana, an area that in the late 19th century was still wild, remote, and difficult to access. Steep slopes, dense forests, and deep ravines forced engineers to rely on tall wooden trestle bridges, which could be constructed faster and more cheaply than stone or iron bridges in such unforgiving terrain.
Time & Historical Context
The bridge was built during the Railroad Boom era, when railways became the backbone of the American economy. These lines connected mines, logging camps, newly founded towns, and industrial centers—transporting gold, silver, timber, coal, and people across vast distances.
At the time, Montana was rapidly developing due to mining rushes and natural resource exploitation, making rail access not a luxury, but a necessity—even when it meant building through extreme and dangerous landscapes.
Construction History
The bridge was constructed almost entirely of wood, primarily local pine and fir.
It was built without modern machinery—relying instead on human labor, horses, pulleys, hand tools, and iron spikes.
The workforce consisted largely of migrant laborers, former soldiers, and loggers, many of whom worked at dizzying heights with little to no safety equipment.
Human Scale (Yellow Circle)
The tiny figures visible within the yellow circle—both atop the bridge and at the base of the ravine—serve as a powerful and emotional reminder of the bridge’s immense scale. From such heights, a single misstep would have meant a fall of dozens of meters and almost certain death.
Historical Significance
The Marent Gulch Trestle was more than just infrastructure. It symbolized:
Human courage and desperation
America’s industrial ambition
The true cost of progress—paid in sweat, fear, and often human lives
Many wooden trestles like this were intended as temporary structures, later replaced by steel bridges or abandoned as routes changed. Yet this photograph freezes one such moment in time—when humans challenged nature with nothing but timber, iron, and determination.
It stands as a silent reminder that great progress is often built upon the labor of small, nearly forgotten people whose names history rarely records.
This photograph captures a massive wooden railway trestle spanning Marent Gulch, a deep ravine in Montana, United States, built in 1883—during a time when America was driven by expansion, industry, and the relentless push westward.
Marent Gulch lay in a rugged, mountainous region of Montana, an area that in the late 19th century was still wild, remote, and difficult to access. Steep slopes, dense forests, and deep ravines forced engineers to rely on tall wooden trestle bridges, which could be constructed faster and more cheaply than stone or iron bridges in such unforgiving terrain.
The bridge was built during the Railroad Boom era, when railways became the backbone of the American economy. These lines connected mines, logging camps, newly founded towns, and industrial centers—transporting gold, silver, timber, coal, and people across vast distances.
At the time, Montana was rapidly developing due to mining rushes and natural resource exploitation, making rail access not a luxury, but a necessity—even when it meant building through extreme and dangerous landscapes.
The bridge was constructed almost entirely of wood, primarily local pine and fir.
It was built without modern machinery—relying instead on human labor, horses, pulleys, hand tools, and iron spikes.
The workforce consisted largely of migrant laborers, former soldiers, and loggers, many of whom worked at dizzying heights with little to no safety equipment.
The tiny figures visible within the yellow circle—both atop the bridge and at the base of the ravine—serve as a powerful and emotional reminder of the bridge’s immense scale. From such heights, a single misstep would have meant a fall of dozens of meters and almost certain death.
The Marent Gulch Trestle was more than just infrastructure. It symbolized:
Human courage and desperation
America’s industrial ambition
The true cost of progress—paid in sweat, fear, and often human lives
Many wooden trestles like this were intended as temporary structures, later replaced by steel bridges or abandoned as routes changed. Yet this photograph freezes one such moment in time—when humans challenged nature with nothing but timber, iron, and determination.
It stands as a silent reminder that great progress is often built upon the labor of small, nearly forgotten people whose names history rarely records.
LE BARON
Power User
A 100-ton mountain engine operating on the Canadian Pacific Railway near Field, British Columbia, 1899.
America's Most Powerful Locomotive Was So Extreme, Cities Had To Ban It — Jalopnik
In the 1950s, a new kind of locomotive made even extreme hills easy for trains to climb. But this extra-powerful engine came with significant downsides.
apple.news
UP # 52 was a 1st. generation gas turbine shown without a tender which they used to haul for more range.
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